MLO 2: Culture
2.1. Students develop a comprehensive understanding, appreciation and knowledge of Japanese culture: perspectives (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, philosophies), practices (patterns of social interactions) and products (both tangible and intangible, for example, art, history, literature, music).
2.2. Students develop analytical and critical thinking in areas, such as how Japan’s cultural background influences modern Japanese life, how to compare their own culture with the Japanese culture, or how Japanese culture relates to other world cultures in an age of global inter-relatedness.
Courses Taken:
JAPN 305: Intro to Japanese Culture and Civilization
JAPN 309:Japanese Literature in translation
JAPN 402:Japanese Literature
JAPN 407:Japan in Asia
To fulfill MLO 2: Culture, I took Intro to Japanese Culture and Civilization, Japanese Lit in translation, Japanese Literature, and Japan in Asia. JAPN 305 and 309 served as great gateways into the culture and literature because the entire class was taught in english so it was very accessible for me starting out as a budding Japanese major. For both classes there were a series of readings, the difference being that one was about the culture and history and the others were stories, free verse poems, short novels and haikus. In addition to the readings there were a number of documentaries and movies that we watched and a number of in class discussions. The discussions were designed to make sure that we were grasping all the information that was being given to us, and out of class we were required to write in journals. (2.1 and 2.2) The finals for each of the classes were relatively different. For culture there was a ten page research paper (the first one that I had ever written) and for 309 there were a series of journal entries that we had to make about each chapter of a book of our choice. For the culture paper I decided to write about the history of drugs in Japan and the government regulations of them. In the Literature class, my final was on Yoshimoto Banana’s Hard Boiled and Hard Luck.
I took Japanese Literature four years after I had taken intro to literature. In the class we studied different styles of writing in Japanese and learned about a number of different authors and their works. These works included free verse poems, haikus and a number of short stories from authors that had very different writing styles tones and philosophies. For each author, we would spend a couple of weeks reading and discussing his or her works. At the start of a new author, we would spend the first class briefly discussing their life and their works, their signature writing style and philosophy if they had one, what kind of life they lived etc. (2.1) At the end of that class we would usually get a vocabulary and kanji list to study for a quiz in the next class. The following two or three classes would be spent reading the authors works and analyzing the content, and answering questions to check for comprehension of the material. Aside from the in class activities we were also required to write reflective essays in Japanese on some of the stories and connect how the morals of those stories applied to our lives, and wrote our own poems and short stories. The final project of the class was a book report and powerpoint presentation on a book of our choosing from one of the authors that we read. Each author gave a small insight into the life they led and of the time period in which they wrote. Some authors had very french influences in their writing while others very religious or focused one one type of message. For example, Miyazawa Kenji's writings reflected his pro-nature opinions in his writings, and often the main point of his stories was to teach moral education to children. (2.2)
JAPN 407 focused on both internal issues in Japan, and Japan’s external influence on other countries in Asia.. To do this, there were a number of reflections per week, a research project and and a group powerpoint. One of the assignments was on a series of issues in Japan such as the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor Incident, the amendment of the Japanese Constitution to allow for an army, and declining birth rate (2.1). The group powerpoint had us research about a Southeast Asian, and research the role that Japan plays in it, and the research project was on a social issue in an Asian country other than Japan. (2.2)
Please see below for previously aforementioned examples of the work I did in my classes.
2.2. Students develop analytical and critical thinking in areas, such as how Japan’s cultural background influences modern Japanese life, how to compare their own culture with the Japanese culture, or how Japanese culture relates to other world cultures in an age of global inter-relatedness.
Courses Taken:
JAPN 305: Intro to Japanese Culture and Civilization
JAPN 309:Japanese Literature in translation
JAPN 402:Japanese Literature
JAPN 407:Japan in Asia
To fulfill MLO 2: Culture, I took Intro to Japanese Culture and Civilization, Japanese Lit in translation, Japanese Literature, and Japan in Asia. JAPN 305 and 309 served as great gateways into the culture and literature because the entire class was taught in english so it was very accessible for me starting out as a budding Japanese major. For both classes there were a series of readings, the difference being that one was about the culture and history and the others were stories, free verse poems, short novels and haikus. In addition to the readings there were a number of documentaries and movies that we watched and a number of in class discussions. The discussions were designed to make sure that we were grasping all the information that was being given to us, and out of class we were required to write in journals. (2.1 and 2.2) The finals for each of the classes were relatively different. For culture there was a ten page research paper (the first one that I had ever written) and for 309 there were a series of journal entries that we had to make about each chapter of a book of our choice. For the culture paper I decided to write about the history of drugs in Japan and the government regulations of them. In the Literature class, my final was on Yoshimoto Banana’s Hard Boiled and Hard Luck.
I took Japanese Literature four years after I had taken intro to literature. In the class we studied different styles of writing in Japanese and learned about a number of different authors and their works. These works included free verse poems, haikus and a number of short stories from authors that had very different writing styles tones and philosophies. For each author, we would spend a couple of weeks reading and discussing his or her works. At the start of a new author, we would spend the first class briefly discussing their life and their works, their signature writing style and philosophy if they had one, what kind of life they lived etc. (2.1) At the end of that class we would usually get a vocabulary and kanji list to study for a quiz in the next class. The following two or three classes would be spent reading the authors works and analyzing the content, and answering questions to check for comprehension of the material. Aside from the in class activities we were also required to write reflective essays in Japanese on some of the stories and connect how the morals of those stories applied to our lives, and wrote our own poems and short stories. The final project of the class was a book report and powerpoint presentation on a book of our choosing from one of the authors that we read. Each author gave a small insight into the life they led and of the time period in which they wrote. Some authors had very french influences in their writing while others very religious or focused one one type of message. For example, Miyazawa Kenji's writings reflected his pro-nature opinions in his writings, and often the main point of his stories was to teach moral education to children. (2.2)
JAPN 407 focused on both internal issues in Japan, and Japan’s external influence on other countries in Asia.. To do this, there were a number of reflections per week, a research project and and a group powerpoint. One of the assignments was on a series of issues in Japan such as the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor Incident, the amendment of the Japanese Constitution to allow for an army, and declining birth rate (2.1). The group powerpoint had us research about a Southeast Asian, and research the role that Japan plays in it, and the research project was on a social issue in an Asian country other than Japan. (2.2)
Please see below for previously aforementioned examples of the work I did in my classes.
402_literature_pres_matt_gin.pdf | |
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japn402finalpapermatthewgin.docx | |
File Size: | 6 kb |
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assignment2reflection.pdf | |
File Size: | 181 kb |
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theeffectsofchinascensorshiponitspopulation.pdf | |
File Size: | 264 kb |
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chapters_9_10_11_gin_mcglothlin-clason_reiter_umehara_hirasaki_ishii.pdf | |
File Size: | 1812 kb |
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cambodia.pdf | |
File Size: | 1562 kb |
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sept17th19thdiscussionassignment.pdf | |
File Size: | 99 kb |
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